Mad Max Sequel: First Look At Tom Hardy

A photo has surfaced from next year's Mad Max: Fury Road, giving us our first look at star, Tom Hardy as the film's titular "Road Warrior."

The image came from a set of autographed low-res set snapshots sent to Ain't It Cool News. Initial doubts surrounding them were quickly quelled when Warner Bros officially confirmed their authenticity.

Now, we can certifiably see Tom Hardy as he dumps his Bane respirator to take over Mel Gibson's star-making role of "Mad" Max Rockatansky. For the uninitiated, Max was an Australian federal police officer serving the remnants of a post-apocalyptic society until a vicious gang killed his wife and infant son. After his vengeance was satisfied, he became a roaming warrior of justice in a savage future.

Check out the full pic below, as well as a look at one of the post-apocalyptic vehicles from the film.

Contrary to conventional practices, Fury Road is NOT a reboot or prequel, but rather, a proper sequel to the original 1979-1985 Mad Max film trilogy.

With a solid A-list co-star in Charlize Theron, plus Nicholas Hoult and Zoë Kravitz of X-Men: First Class, as well as Rosie Huntington-Whitely (the Victoria's Secret model that Michael Bay put in that last Transformers movie) all on board, Tom Hardy is looking to disprove the immortal words of Tina Turner's Mad Max anthem. -- Yes, we DO need another hero.

Mad Max: Fury Road is scheduled to be the "reckoning" for Australian post-apocalyptic baddies sometime in 2013.